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Instagram recently announced that they will be updating their app to include an algorithm that will no longer sort based on what's posted most recently. The photos and videos you see in your feed will now be based on your interest (or your perceived interests based on what Instagram thinks), your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post. This change will be similar to the recent Facebook algorithm update. As they said in their article, “all the posts will still be there, just in a different order.” It’s likely that the new order will be based on a variety of things like the types of photos you’ve liked in the past and whose notifications you choose to turn on.

This change started an uproar of negative feedback. And I have to admit, when I first heard about it, I was pretty angry too. But as we dug into the change more deeply, we started thinking it could actually be a positive thing for your church ... and here are a few reasons why:

1. Increased Engagement
   Engagement on Instagram has always been lower than Facebook. And part of that is just the nature of it being a different type of social network. But in the past, there wasn’t really a reason to engage. You didn’t need to like someone’s photo because you were just blindly scrolling through. But now, liking someone’s photo doesn’t just show them you were interested in what they posted, but it also has positive ramifications for you. By liking a photo, you (or people from your congregation) are saying, “I’d like to see more photos like this!” This could drastically increase the engagement that your church posts see.
2. More Visibility
   Without the new algorithm, users would have to post constantly to reach a broad audience. In fact, Instagram says that people miss about 70 percent of their feeds. Which means, despite low interactions, people could actually care about what your church is posting, but they might just be missing it. The change means that if your church posts something after a Sunday night worship experience, it could be waiting for your followers in their feeds when they wake up on Monday morning. 
3. Quality Over Quantity
   If you’ve been stressed by the number of posts you have to make to Instagram, or if you’ve asked yourself if it’s really worth it, the algorithm change might be your ticket to breathe a little easier. We always tell our clients and readers that social media, despite what some might say, really is about quality over quantity. “Give your audience something meaningful to share,” we say. “Use social media as a way to enhance the lives of your community,” we tell you. Before this update, however, Instagram didn’t really support this way of thinking. But now, you can start to be more strategic about what you're posting and put a little less effort into how often.

So what do you do now? Well, fortunately, we have some time to think about it! Instagram hasn’t officially announced when this update will be released to the general public (they said it will be in the next few months.) So ... 

• Use this time and knowledge as a way to refresh, or start, an Instagram strategy for your church.
• Dive into your Instagram analytics (here’s a list of tools that can help you) and see what kind of engagement you’ve had over the last year.
• Look back at your photos and videos and see what’s working and what isn’t.
• Survey your congregation and see how many of them are actually using Instagram.
• You’ll also want to start talking about this with your congregation and Instagram followers. Explain to them the “why” behind you having an Instagram account and how you’re hoping it will enhance their lives.
• Then, ask them to turn on notifications for your church account. (This can be done by clicking on the three dots at the top of a photo.) It will help people stay connected with you! See our example below: